1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette housing assembly of a tape recorder, and more particularly, to a cassette housing assembly of a tape recorder having an apparatus for preventing an incorrect insertion of a cassette in the cassette housing by being upside down.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tape recorder is for recording/reproducing audio or video information on/from a magnetic tape. In the tape recorder, a cassette housing assembly is provided to load a cassette onto a deck. When a cassette is inserted into a cassette housing assembly and a switch is turned on, the driving of the cassette housing assembly begins and the cassette is placed at a loading position on the deck.
FIG. 1 shows a deck of a tape recorder, more particularly, an 8 mm camcorder.
Referring to the drawing, a deck 10 includes a chassis assembly 11, a cassette housing assembly 12, a head drum assembly 13, and a loading mechanism 15. On the chassis assembly 11, installed are a reel disk assembly for running the magnetic tape of the cassette (not shown) by being inserted in a spool of the cassette and a head drum assembly 13 including a magnetic head (not shown). A space for receiving the cassette is formed in the cassette housing assembly 12. The cassette housing assembly 12 has an upper surface portion 12a, side surface portions 12b and 12b', and a lower surface portion 12c. The loading mechanism 15 is installed between the side surface portion 12b' of the cassette housing assembly 12 and the chassis assembly 11. The cassette housing assembly 12 is lowered by the loading mechanism 15 to a level of the chassis assembly 11 to load the cassette, or is lifted to unload the same.
In the cassette housing assembly of the tape recorder structured as above, an apparatus for preventing an incorrect insertion of a cassette is provided. A incorrect-insertion preventing function is usually performed by a stopper (not shown) which is installed at one side of the lower surface of the cassette housing assembly. For instance, when a cassette (not shown) is inserted in a normal state, the stopper is positioned in a groove provided between the leading portion of a main unit of the cassette and a cassette lid thereof. Next, when loading of the cassette begins, the cassette lid (not shown) is opened by a lid contact portion (not shown) formed on a side surface of the chassis, thus exposing a magnetic tape. When the cassette is incorrectly inserted, the stopper is not positioned into the groove and thus the cassette lid is not opened. As a result, the cassette can be correctly maintained in the cassette housing assembly.
FIG. 2 shows a cassette housing assembly according to the conventional technology. Referring to the drawing, the cassette housing assembly 22 includes an upper surface portion 22a, side surface portions 22b and 22b' respectively formed to the left and right sides of the upper surface portion 22a, and a lower surface portion 22c. A cassette is inserted in a direction indicated by arrow "C" into a space formed by the upper surface, side surface and lower surface portions 22a, 22b and 22b', and 22c. A fixed stopper 25 is installed at one side of the lower surface portion 22c. The fixed stopper 25 vertically protrudes from the plane of lower surface portion 22c.
FIGS. 3A to 3C are side views of the cassette housing assembly in which a cassette is inserted, viewing from a direction indicated by arrow "A" in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 3A, a conventional cassette 38 has a main unit 38a, an outer lid 36 rotatably installed at a leading portion 38b of the main unit 38a, and an inner lid 37 rotatably installed with respect to the outer lid 36. The cassette 38 is inserted in a direction indicated by arrow "C" into a space defined by an upper surface portion 22a, side surface portions 22b and 22b', and a lower surface portion 22c of the cassette housing assembly 22. A groove (not shown) is provided between the leading portion 38b of the main unit 38a and the outer lid 36, as described in the above. Therefore, when a cassette is correctly inserted, the fixed stopper 25 shown in FIG. 2 is positioned in the groove and thus insertion of the cassette 38 into the cassette housing assembly 22 is not hindered.
FIG. 3B shows a state in which the cassette housing assembly is lowered to a level of the chassis assembly 11 (see FIG. 1). The cassette housing assembly 22 is lowered by the operation of the loading mechanism 15 (see FIG. 1). Here, the outer lid 36 and the inner lid 37 open by contacting a lid contact portion (not shown) formed at one side of the chassis assembly 11. Reference numeral 31 indicates a protrusion formed on the upper surface portion 22a of the cassette housing assembly 22. The inner lid 37 contacts the protrusion 31 as it rotates and moves backward.
FIG. 3C shows a state in which a cassette is inserted upside down. When the cassette is inserted upside down into the cassette housing assembly 22, the fixed stopper 25 is not positioned in the groove (not shown) provided between the cassette leading portion 38b and the cassette outer lid 36. Accordingly, as shown in the drawing, the cassette 38 slides along the upper surface of the fixed stopper 25. That is, since the main unit 38a of the cassette 38 is inserted into a restricted space of the cassette housing assembly 22 defined by the protrusion 31 and the fixed stopper 25, correct insertion of the cassette in the cassette housing assembly 22 cannot be performed. Also, a user determines whether the cassette is correctly inserted by examining a state of insertion thereof.
However, the above conventional apparatus for preventing an incorrect insertion of a cassette has the following disadvantages.
When a user incorrectly inserts the cassette 38 into the cassette housing assembly 22 even though the insertion of the cassette 38 may be prevented by the fixed stopper 25, the cassette almost enters in the cassette housing assembly 22 because there is an enough space inside the cassette housing assembly 22 for allowing the cassette to slide. In doing so, the surface of the cassette 38 may be scratched by the fixed stopper 25 and also the cassette can contact the other mechanisms or elements in the deck 10 and damage the same. Also, since a user usually determines whether the cassette is correctly inserted in the deck by checking the distance that the cassette is inserted into the deck, a misjudgment on whether the cassette has been correctly inserted may occur.